FBI to help investigate the crash

The New York Times reports that The FBI has agreed to help the Russian government with its investigation into the deadly crash of a Russian charter plane in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

Some American officials said that the Russians want help doing a forensic analysis to determine what brought down the Airbus A321-200, while other officials said that the request from the Russians was more general. Although most of the debris is scattered over nearly eight square miles in the desert, some parts of the plane were taken to Russia for analysis.

Cheers of relief in Manchester

The first plane of holidaymakers to return to Manchester since the crisis has touched down to cheers of relief from those onboard. The Manchester Evening News reports that passengers had been on the plane waiting to fly on Wednesday when flights were suspended.

Chelsea Benson, 27, is six months pregnant and had found the ordeal stressful.

She said: "I was out in Egypt on a last minute break and my husband was back here so I found that a worry.

"Today has been the worst because we left the hotel at 11.30am and then the flight was delayed so it's been a very long day.

"It's such a massive relief to be home, I'm just glad about that now, but there are still passengers out there."

British tourists returning home tell of 'chaos'

PA has the latest on passengers arriving back in the UK. Some said security at the airport was "terrible".

Marc Standen and his partner Emily Alfeo were due to fly home on Thursday after a week in the resort but arrived back only last night.

Mr Standen, 28, a car salesman from Westgate, Kent, said security guards at the airport wearing bullet-proof vests checked under vehicles with mirrors as they waited in lengthy queues for the airport, but did not check car boots or speak to passengers.

He said: "It was madness. They did a semi-pat down inside and we took our shoes off. I don't think it was very thorough. It was madness. Their security is terrible and they are completely overwhelmed."

Bags taken on board were not checked adequately, he said, and at one point around 400 people tried to squeeze through two glass doors to get to a final security check, leaving some hurt as they got trampled.

Mr Standen, who travelled with Thomas Cook, added: "It is the lack of information that is probably the big problem, but the airport is only going to get worse. They don't have it under control. We have left our two bags behind in a pile in the middle of the terminal, and I honestly don't know if we will see them again."

He added: "We are glad to be home. I am honestly not the sort of person who would normally worry about things, but it was not a good experience."

Reports: Britons might have 'helped construct the bomb'

The unconfirmed reports suggesting British jihadists were involved in the bombing claim that Britons trained in Syria with an "electronics background" might have helped to construct the bomb that brought down the Russian jet. "Chatter" picked up by GCHQ reportedly featured jihadists with London and Birmingham accents celebrating in Egypt after the explosion.

"Game changer" for Isil

The unconfirmed reports of the possible involvement of British Jihadists in the attack comes after British intelligence was out in front of the rest of the world in concluding that a bomb most likely took down the plane.

The “chatter” picked up by intelligence agencies appears to include a series of communications between the Sinai terrorist group, affiliated to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and its leadership based in Syria.

Prior to the explosion last Saturday, US intelligence agencies also intercepted a message from the terrorists in Sinai that warned of “something big in the area”.

It is understood that details about how the plane was brought down were also intercepted, but the officials have thus far refused to go into detail.

Security analysts described the latest developments as a “game changer” for Isil.

Mokhtar Awad, at the Centre for American Progress which specialises in studying Islamist extremism, said: “What we had seen so far were IS-inspired lone wolves, but this attack appears to be the result of close, consistent operational support.”

Reports: British jihadists 'linked to bomb on MetroJet flight'

Reports are now emerging that the Jihadists recorded by British intelligence in connection with the attack- part of the "chatter" that led Downing Street to confirm it was a terror attack- spoke in British accents.

We can not independently confirm the reports at this time, and it is too early to conclude that the purpetrators were British, but if true the reports will bring new urgency to the issue of foreign fighters from the UK joining Isil.

Summary of the day's events

Robert Mendick, Patrick Sawer, Raf Sanchez and Magdy Samaan

Terrorists believed to be responsible for blowing up a Russian passenger jet boasted to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) leadership in Syria that they had succeeded, according to the latest intelligence intercepts.

The reports add to growing evidence that a bomb was placed on board Metrojet Flight 9268 before it took off from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, killing all 224 passengers and crew.

The apparent involvement of the leaders of Isil, in Raqqa, in helping to plot the terrorist attack will alarm Western intelligence agencies.

Until now, Isil had encouraged “lone wolf” attacks on foreign targets but had been unable to organise “a spectacular” atrocity on such a scale outside of Iraq and Syria.

“They [Isil leaders] were clearly celebrating,” a US official told NBC News.

Wreckage at the site where a Russian aircraft crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula near El Arish city. Photo: Corbis

In a day of further dramatic developments, it can also be disclosed:

A senior British minister warned the aviation industry just days before the Russian jet crashed that one of the biggest dangers was terrorist plotters penetrating security at foreign airports;

Egypt’s investigators said a noise was heard in the last second of the cockpit voice recording on the jet, reinforcing the likelihood that the aircraft was brought down by an on-board bomb;

The Isil terror group claiming responsibility was trained by an ex-Egyptian special forces officer, who turned to jihadism and went on the run;

UK aviation and security officials shown CCTV footage from inside Sharm el-Sheikh airport were so alarmed by the lack of security they ordered the cancellation of all further flights from Britain to the Red Sea resort;

Downing Street admitted that it would take far longer than previously thought to evacuate Britons stranded in the resort, with officials saying it would take at least 10 days to rescue the holidaymakers, amid growing frustration and distress.

UK/Egypt "discussing measures" to allow British tourists to return to Sharm

Current estimates are that it will take ten days to return the some 18,000 British tourists in Sharm el-Sheikh to the UK.

But the government is already discussing "permanent measures" which would make it easier for Brits to travel there in future.

Tourists from Britain are second only to Russians in terms of annual visitors to the resort town, and the decisions taken by the UK and Russian governments to suspend flights to Sharm el-Sheikh could prove crippling to the local economy

Russian and British repatriation flights test Sharm aiport capacity

Raf Sanchez is in Sharm el-Sheikh, and explains that many British tourists attempting to catch flights home may still have several days to wait.

The evacuation of British holiday makers from Sharm el-Shiekh is now expected to take ten days, far longer than originally promised, and could be delayed further if Russia surges aircraft to bring home its own citizens.

After initially aiming for more than 20 flights a day to bring stranded Britons home, the government now expects fewer than 10 daily flights, meaning it is likely to take until mid-November to complete the evacuation.

Nine British flights were expected to leave the resort on Saturday night, bringing home a further 1,600 of the roughly 18,500 British visitors still in Sharm el-Sheikh.

But the evacuation system - which involves hiring cargo planes to fly home passengers' checked luggage - could be disrupted if Russia aggressively steps up its own repatriation plans.

Russian tourists security wrap their luggage before heading inside Sharm el Shiekh airport in the hope of a catching a flight home Photo: REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih

There are around 80,000 Russian holiday makers in Sharm el-Sheikh and the Kremlin said it would send a fleet of 93 aircraft over the weekend to begin bring them home.

Russian and British passengers queued side-by-side in Terminal 1 of the airport yesterday and John Casson, the UK ambassador to Egypt, said that so far the Russian airlift did not appear to be hampering British operations.

"That's something we're watching very closely. It's one of many competing logistical pressures at this airport," Mr Casson said.

British embassy in Cairo: 'We're not evacuating our tourists'

The British embassy in Cairo has released a statement saying the tourists being flown out of Sharm el-Sheikh are not being "evacuated".

Thanks to close cooperation with the Egyptian authorities on the ground in Cairo and in Sharm el-Sheikh, we have restarted flights from Sharm el-Sheikh to the UK.

Britain is not evacuating its tourists early from their holidays. The steps that we have taken yesterday and today with the Egyptian authorities and UK airlines will now allow us to get British people home safely at the end of their holidays.

We are now urgently discussing with ministers and officials in Cairo and Sharm el-Sheikh the permanent measures that will allow British tourists come back to Sharm el-Sheikh as soon as possible.

Egypt failed to warn pilots of August military exercises

David Millward reports that on the day of the alleged near-miss between a Thomson aircraft and a missile, Egyptian authorities did not give proper warnings.

The Egyptian authorities failed to warn pilots that military exercises were taking place on a day when a British holiday jet with 189 passengers had to take “evasive action” to avoid a missile, the Telegraph can disclose.

According to some reports the rocket came within 1,000 feet of a Thomson jet flying to Sharm el-Sheikh on August 23.

A Thomson plane is reprted to have come ?within 1,000ft? of a rocket as it approached Sharm El Sheikh Photo: Alamy

Although this distance is disputed, the Department for Transport confirmed “an incident” took place.

The DfT added that the incident was “likely to be connected to routine exercises being conducted by the Egyptian military in the area at the time.”

When such exercises take place pilots should be warned of the activity by a Notice to Airmen – or NOTAM – under a system established by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

They govern what is known as Special Use Airspace, which is designed to segregate civilian aircraft from military activity. At one end of the scale controlled firing areas, where the military stop operations when radar shows a civilian aircraft is approaching. At the other there are patches of airspace from which civilian aircraft are completely banned.

However on August 23 no such warnings were in place. There were a total of eight NOTAMs, covering routine matters such as closed taxiways and aircraft stands and a concentration of birds at an aerodrome.

Today, by way of contrast, there are more than a dozen NOTAMs warning of military activity, exercises and missile firing.

Is the Egyptian investigation honest and transparent?

Egypt is leading the investigation into what brought down the plane. While UK and US intelligence have indicated that the evidence they have seen points to a bomb, the Egyptians have been more cautious.

"It could be lithium batteries in the luggage of one of the passengers, it could be an explosion in the fuel tank," Ayman el-Muqadem, the head of the Egyptian investigation said today.

Egypt's foreign minister has complained that western countries have been too quick to draw conclusions.

"We expected that the information available would be communicated to us instead of being broadcast," he said.

But does mere caution explain the discrepencies?

Jim Hall, a former chairman of the US National Transportation Safety Board, said that enough time has transpired for Egyptian investigators to determine what took down the plane, but in his experience they were "very reluctant to suggest anything that is not approved at the highest levels of the Egyptian government."

"If that's the same situation today in Egypt, then they will be putting the country's self-interest ahead of the investigation," he told the Telegraph.

"I don't think we would have seen these reports out of US intelligence if they felt the Egyptians would have made that information public themselves."

Weak link in airport security could have led to plane crash

"Enmity Vladimir Putin has aroused among Islamists will be longlasting"

The Economist's Edward Lucas says that as the apparent bombing of a flight from Sharm el-Sheikh shows, the enmity Vladimir Putin has aroused among Islamists will be longlasting

He writes:

Brilliant tactics, lousy strategy. As the likelihood rises that an Islamist bomb killed 224 people on the Russian Metrojet airline, that would seem a suitable epitaph for Vladimir Putin’s intervention in Syria – and indeed for his 16-year rule over Russia, in which the storyline has mattered far more than the facts.

Foreign policy is soap opera in Russia, with cardboard villains and a bombastic, sentimental storyline of heroism and victimisation. The first season was set in the mud of Ukraine, featuring villainous Nazi-loving Ukrainians and brave Russians carrying the anti-fascist banners of their Soviet forbears.

That has now given way to a new drama set against the exotic backdrop of the Syrian civil war. Here the enemy is villainous Islamists – foes not only of Russia but of modern civilisation. Where the West dithers, Russia acts. The Kremlin’s propaganda channels feted the air-strikes against Syrian rebels as a sign that the country was once again a geopolitical force to be reckoned with.

The head of the Egyptian technical committee investigating the crash has confirmed that the recording from the plane's black box reveals a sound in the last second of the recording.

Ayman el-Mokkadem said: "Initial observations... do not allow for identifying the origin of the in-flight break-up" of the Airbus A-321 last Saturday 23 minutes and 14 seconds after it took off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

He said: "A noise was heard in the last second of the recording by the cockpit voice recorder" and "a spectral analysis will be done to determine the origin of this noise".

When answering a question about what the sound represented he said: "The sound is not the only evidence - we need to have a lot of evidence to indicate that something specific happened.

"All the scenarios are open, it could be a fatigue at the plane body, or an explosion of something..."

British planes on standby in Cyprus

The Associated Press says 11 British airliners are standing by on the tarmac in Cyprus, ready to go to Egypt when called to fly British tourists home from Sharm el-Sheikh.

A Cyprus aviation official said on Saturday eight airliners are at the main Larnaca airport after arriving from the UK's Luton, Gatwick and Stansted airports.

Eleven empty British airliners are on standby at Larnaca Airport, Cyprus, which may be used to fly home thousands of tourists stranded in Egypt's Sharm al-Sheikh Photo: Reuters

Another three planes from Birmingham and Manchester are at the smaller Paphos airport, diverted there because they were unable to land directly at the Egyptian Red Sea resort.

Aspris said Cypriot authorities were told the Sharm el-Sheikh airport is experiencing difficulties accommodating a large number of aircraft at once. In addition to planes from Britain, some 93 Russian planes are expected at Sharm el-Sheikh this weekend to ferry thousands of Russian tourists home.

Explosive device could have been inside luggage

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said information obtained by UK officials indicated there was a "high probability" that the aircraft was brought down by an explosive device, though he said he was still waiting for final confirmation.

There have been reports that security agencies received intelligence based on intercepted communications between Sinai militants which pointed towards a bomb on the plane.

They apparently suspect an explosive device could have been placed inside or on top of luggage by someone with access to the hold just before take-off.

UK ambassador to Egypt says another 1,500 Brits will fly home today

The UK's ambassador to Egypt, John Casson, has met with the director of Sharm el-Sheikh airport to discuss the new security measures and ensure that all is being done to help British tourists get home quickly.

He told the BBC: "About 1,500 people got home yesterday. People are checking in for their flights at the airport now, there will be similar numbers today and we have got good co-operation now which will allow us to get people home as soon as possible.

"Let us remember what this has always been about is making sure that when people go home they go home safely."

Mr Casson said he understood the frustrations of stranded holidaymakers and reassured them that British government officials were at the airport and in hotels in the resort to offer people advice around the clock.

He added: "We have measures in place now which allow us to say it is safe to fly home. That is the most important thing, it is the utmost priority for the government, and we will do it in a way that is as convenient and as quick as possible for people."

'At no point did my luggage go through any scanner - it was bizarre'

Investigation launched into local staff that came into contact with downed plane

Egyptian airport and security officials say an investigation has been launched into any local staff and ground crew in Sharm el-Sheikh that came into contact with the downed Russian Metrojet flight.

The officials told the Associated Press that authorities are questioning airport staff and have begun surveillance on those who worked on the Russian flight that crashed a week ago in the Sinai desert 23 minutes after taking off from the Red Sea resort.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to brief reporters.

British tourists struggle to find out when planes will leave chaotic Sharm airport

Magdy Samaan reports from Shamaan:

The situation for Britons who had their flights cancelled is still unclear.

Many are trying to find out when they will be able to travel back home through contacting their travel agents and looking online about news.

In one of the hotels a British man and his girlfriend were in a hurry to rent a car to the airport.

He didn't know if he would be able to fly or not, so he asked the car to wait for him for an hour until he had found out what the possibility of flying today was. He was anxious to get home and told the Telegraph: "I just don't know, I will go to the airport to check."

An officer in the hotel car booking office said that many people returned back from the airport yesterday.

"Many people, especially elders are angry against Cameron, they think he ruined their vacation," he said.

A media officer at the Egyptian of Civil Aviation said that there are 8 planes expected to leave every day to transport Britons who had their flights canceled. Another cargo plane will transport luggage separately for every 8 passenger planes.

26 flights were cancelled yesteray after the British government halted flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.

The Civil Aviation media officer said that Britons need to check with their tour operators who are coordinating the issue with Sharm airport.

BALPA says it has "no concerns" about Thomson plane which dodged missile over Sharm el-Sheikh

The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) has released a statement following this morning's news that a Thomson plane dodged a missile above Sharm el-Sheikh which was within 1000 feet of the aircraft.

A BALPA spokesperson said:

"BALPA representatives were reassured that a proper and robust investigation into this incident took place and has no concerns with the steps either DfT or Thomson Airways took at the time.

"We do not believe the safety of the aircraft was put at risk which is, of course, pilots' primary concern.

"It is also important to note that this incident is separate from the current and ongoing security situation in Sharm el Sheikh."

Crash calls into question Sisi's approach to militants

Reuters reports that the Egyptian president's belief that to stabilise Egypt all Islamist militants must be killed may backfire, as suspicions that Islamic State militants may have planted an explosive device on Airbus A321 suggests his strategy could be creating more radicals.

Giant posters of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in military uniform hang at security checkpoints leading to the Sinai, but the crash of a Russian airliner in the peninsula has shattered the image of control they seek to project.

Agitated passengers wait for flights home

Passengers waiting for news on the status of their flights are becoming increasingly enraged by the lack of information filtering through from airlines.

Brits returning home to Gatwick last night told how rather than receiving updates via embassy officials and airlines, self-appointed spokespeople within the hoards of tourists were left to find out what was happening.

In Sharm El Sheikh, due home today but no contact from @British_Airways unlike Monarch passengers who get personal phone calls!

More details emerge on theory that bomb blew up Russian airliner

David Chazan in Paris for the Telegraph reports:

French investigators in Sinai are analysing fragments of cabin wreckage for traces of explosive.

A French source close to the investigation who had access to black box said: “The flight data were perfectly normal as the plane reached cruising speed. But between the 23rd and 24th minute, data recording stopped, which could indicate a brutal explosion caused for example by a bomb on board.”

The source added: “The cabin is riddled with impacts from the interior which sometimes caused holes, which leads to the supposition that there was an explosion in the plane.”

However, an explosion might not necessarily have been caused by a bomb and investigators say there is no formal proof of a bomb so far.

The fact that the tail of the plane was found far from rest of wreckage, with a “very clean” break, could indicate that it was not an explosion that tore the plane apart, but result of metal fatigue as the A-321 has a very long tail that can rub against the runway surface if the pilot does not follow correct takeoff procedure.

Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry has condemned countries including the UK for not coordinating with Egypt to fight terrorism.

In a press conference this morning, Mr Shoukry said foreign countries did not heed Egypt's calls for greater coordination to fight terrorism and have not shared intelligence with Cairo about the crash of a Russian passenger plane last week.

He said: "European countries did not give us the cooperation we are hoping for" and added that Egypt's past calls for cooperation and coordination from "the countries that are now facing the danger" had not been dealt with seriously.

An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the crash, but several countries have already suspended flights to the Sinai resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, citing the possibility that the flight which originated there was brought down by a bomb.

"The information we have heard about has not been shared with Egyptian security agencies in detail," Shoukry told a news conference. "We were expecting that the technical information would be provided to us."

Denmark, Norway and Finland tell citizens not to travel to Sharm el-Sheikh

AP are reporting that Denmark, Norway and Finland have joined several countries in telling their citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Egypt's resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Norway's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it also urged people already in Sharm el-Sheik not to travel further around the Sinai Peninsula, where Egypt is fighting an Islamic insurgency. Finland made a similar recommendation.

Cindy Crawford, from Scotland, sits on the sidewalk outside the airport at Sharm El-Sheikh waiting for more information on a flight Photo: Getty

Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen said Denmark "changed its advisory because of information we got."

Russia condemns Charlie Hebdo for Sinai cartoons

Patrick Sawer reports that Charlie Hebdo has got in trouble for two cartoons about the plane disaster.

The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has been condemned by Russia for two cartoons about the Sinai air disaster in which 224 people were killed.

One shows debris falling on a member of Islamic State (IS) with a caption reading: "Russia's air force intensifies its bombing" - in reference to Russia's air strikes on Syria.

Another cartoon depicted a skull and body parts of victims – who were mostly Russian tourists.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Vladimir Putin, called the cartoons published by the satirical magazine "sacrilege".

He said: "This has nothing to do with democracy or self-expression.”

Charlie Hebdo was the target of a terrorist attack in January, when two Islamist gunman killed 10 of the magazine's staff at its Paris offices, along with two policemen outside.

The magazine has a history of controversial satire and has been repeatedly accused of insensitivity.

It was criticised by Russian Twitter users on Friday, with the hashtag "I'm not Charlie" among the top trends in the country - a reference to the "Je Suis Charlie" hashtag which became popular following the January attack.

Members of the Russian parliament also attacked the magazine, calling on the government to blacklist it as extremist literature and saying France should apologise.

Sharm el-Sheikh authorities attempt to seal airport

Raf Sanchez is back at Sharm el-Sheikh airport this morning, where he says journalists are being turned away.

The Egyptian authorities are turning away journalists from the airport. They were obviously uncomfortable yesterday with a crowd of reporters speaking to passengers in the terminal yesterday and they've been stung by the media coverage of Sharm's lax security measures. Today they are trying to seal the airport off altogether.

British holidaymakers arrive back in UK

But despite the government’s insistence that 20 flights would leave for the UK yesterday, thousands are still stranded in the Egyptian resort.

Those who were lucky enough to get on flights last night said they were met with chaotic scenes at Sharm el-Sheikh airport.

Passengers arriving at London Gatwick told how it was a case of the survival of the fittest as they battled to get planes home from Sharm el-Sheikh.

British tourists enjoying a night out in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh Photo: Mohamed el-Shahed/AFP

Exhausted holidaymakers, who had been stranded in the Egyptian city since their flights were cancelled on Wednesday, said they were forced to endure endless security checks which seemed to be "all show and no substance", while those who were either prepared to pay or could convince staff they were "important Egyptians" sailed through.

Deborah Simpson, 35, an accountant from London, said: "It was chaotic. There were people everywhere.

"People were shouting at the men behind security that they were important Egyptians and they just let them through.

"It seemed like Egyptians were being waved through faster, and we British love a good queue."

What do we know so far?

A British jet packed with holidaymakers had to “evade” an Egyptian missile in what the Department for Transport described as an incident just over two months ago.

According to one report, the missile came within 1,000 feet of a Thomson flight with 189 passengers on board.

Thomson said the incident was not a cause for concern, while the DfT said the flight was not the victim of a terrorist attack, adding that the incident was probably connected to routine exercises being carried out by the Egyptian military.

A Thomson plane is reprted to have come ?within 1,000ft? of a rocket as it approached Sharm El Sheikh Photo: Alamy

But given there are strict protocols designed to keep civilian aircraft away from such military exercises, it remained unclear how the Thomson flight found itself in that position.

Details of what appears to have been a near miss emerged as evidence mounted that the Russian Metrojet flight was brought down by a bomb.

Analysis of information on the flight data recorder – or black box – revealed there was an explosion 24 minutes into the flight.

A little girl waits in line to check in at the airport of Sharm el-Sheikh Photo: Rex Features

In addition, NBC reported that fresh intelligence had provided further evidence that terrorists were responsible for the Metrojet crash which killed 224 people.

What was described as “chatter” between Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leaders in Raqqa, Syria and jihadists in the Sinai Peninsula included a boast that they had taken down the aircraft.

Meanwhile in Sharm el-Sheikh, progress in bringing back British tourists was slow, with only eight of the 29 evacuation flights being allowed to land.

John Casson, Britain’s ambassador to Egypt, bore much of the frustration and anger voiced by UK holidaymakers who had been trapped at the Red Sea resort.

Tourists wait in line at the security gate before the check-in counter at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport Photo: AP

Those who did get back spoke of chaotic scenes at Sharm el-Sheikh airport with some claiming that they had to pay bribes to avoid lengthy security queues.

More flights are due to arrive on Saturday to continue the evacuation of around 20,000 British tourists who have been trapped at Sharm el-Sheikh.

Reasons why Russia stopped flights to Egypt

Fascinating detail from Roland Oliphant, our Moscow correspondent on the Russian volte-face over flights to Egypt.

It is not known what caused the sudden change but the UK’s National Security Adviser Sir Kim Darroch spoke to his Russian counterpart on Thursday evening to share details of the intelligence that lay behind Mr Cameron’s decision to ground flights.

British intelligence agencies are believed to have intercepted “chatter” amongst terrorist groups in Sinai that suggests an affiliate of Isil was behind Russia’s worst ever air disaster.

Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the Federal Security Service, said at a rare publicised meeting of the country's anti-terrorism committee: “Until we have established the causes of this incident I think it appropriate to halt Russian flights to Egypt, this primarily concerns tourism.

How did Thomson just become involved in an "incident" during Egyptian military exercises?

How a Thomson jet managed to find itself involved in an “incident” during Egyptian military exercises in August remains unclear. Bob Mann, an American aviation expert, explained that strict guidelines are in place in America to avoid this taking place in warnings issued to pilots known as NOTAMs – or Notices to Airmen.

They govern what is known as Special Use Airspace, which is designed to segregate civilian aircraft from military activity. At one end of the scale controlled firing areas, where the military stop operations when radar shows a civilian aircraft is approaching. At the other there are patches of airspace from which civilian aircraft are completely banned.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation, a UN body, also designates “danger areas” which warns pilots of potential dangers.

What will US demands for extra security mean?

More on the enhanced security on flights into the US.

Jeh Johnson, the US Homeland Security Secretary, was cautious about going into detail when he announced additional measures

He said this:

While there are no direct commercial air flights from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt to the United States, these enhancements are designed to provide an additional layer of security for the traveling public, and will be undertaken in consultation with relevant foreign governments and relevant passenger and cargo airlines.

These enhancements will supplement U.S. aviation security requirements currently in place at all of foreign last-point-of-departure airports, as well as the additional security enhancements I directed last summer at certain foreign locations. Many of those enhancements have also been adopted by our European allies.

Jeh Johnson keen to boost security on flights to the US Photo: GETTY IMAGES

According to industry sources what this will entail is closer co-operation between airports. The US will pay particular attention to airports where the staff are not screened. They will also expect far more scrutiny not only of baggage but also items such as catering supplies before they are loaded onto the plane.

Yet more intelligence is emerging indicating that a terrorist bomb was responsible for the bringing down the Russian jet.

This has come in from Reuters:

Communications between Islamic State leaders in Raqqa, Syria, and persons in the Sinai Peninsula included boasts about the downing of a Russian passenger jet over the area, NBC reported on Friday, citing unidentified U.S. officials.

"They were clearly celebrating," NBC Nightly News quoted a U.S. official as saying. The "chatter" included a boast of taking down the plane on Saturday and how it was done.

The U.S. intelligence community intercepted a message from a Sinai group affiliated with Islamic State that warned of "something big in the area" before jet crash.

British holiday jet had to "evade" military missile

A Thomson flight with 189 passengers on board had to avoid a military missile when landing at Sharm el-Sheikh airport just over two months ago.

According to one report, the missile came within 1000 feet of the flight packed with British holidaymakers.

Both the airline and the Department for Transport confirmed that an incident had taken place on August 23.

A spokesman for the DfT said: “We investigated the reported incident at the time and concluded that it was not a targeted attack and was likely to be connected to routine exercises being conducted by the Egyptian military in the area at the time.”

The Daily Mail, quoting an unnamed source, said the pilot had to veer left to avoid the missile.

A spokesman for Thomson added: “Upon landing into Sharm el-Sheikh, an initial assessment was conducted and the event was immediately reported to the UK Department for Transport (DfT) in line with established protocol.

“The DfT conducted a full investigation in conjunction with other UK Government experts.

“After reviewing the details of the case, the investigation concluded that there was no cause for concern and it was safe to continue our flying programme to Sharm el-Sheikh.”

A Thomson plane is reprted to have come ?within 1,000ft? of a rocket as it approached Sharm El Sheikh Photo: Alamy

Egyptian authorities allowed only 8 of 29 flights planned to bring stranded British tourists back to the UK to take off from Sharm el-Sheikh. Flights en route to Egypt were turned back in flight once the restrictions were put in place.

Brits trapped at Sharm el-Sheik airport described chaotic scenes as they struggled to get home. Passengers who did manage to board flights were only allowed to bring hand luggage.

A young traveller who had been expecting to fly home on an EasyJet flight that was cancelled, waits at the airport in Sharm El Sheikh, Photo: Sam Tarling/The Telegraph

Analysis of the plane's black box indicates that all was calm for 24 minutes before a sudden explosion. David Cameron has said it was "more likely than not" that a bomb was smuggled on board.